Aki Kaurisma¨ki, born in 1957, grew up in “the age terrorized by television,” and has tried and managed to stick to the inseparable realities of the real world and the "deep screen" that only 35 mm film—light against electronic machinations, the beauty of artisanal tradition against technological overkill—makes possible. He has never used any other material, least of all video, and is very proud for having continued the tradition of “real cinema.” His minimalist style is all his own (and that of the great cinematographer of all his films, Timo Salminen); he never entered the Finnish Film School (as he was suspected to be "too cynical"). At the same time, his films are full of allusions, but always invisible ones, parts of a constant dialogue wherein particles of film culture reveal realities of human environment, society and psyche: as it is now, and as it was during the tender years of Aki's childhood.